Wait-time service in a telecommunications network

ABSTRACT

A method for providing a wait-time service in a telecommunications network and a telecommunications system, comprising user terminals connected to a network via radio path. When a terminal user must wait for a requested service from the service provider, this is often indicated by a queue tone, a busy tone, or a piece of music, depending on the terminal used. The objective of this invention is, on the one hand, to avoid compressing and coding messages, such as a piece of music, and on the other hand, to avoid wasting a lot of spectrum. This objective is achieved by offering a new service by means of which it is possible to start and execute a wait-time service at the terminal of the user when the requested connection is not available immediately. However, the wait-time service can be provided in fixed networks, too.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to services in atelecommunications network, especially wait-time services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 a shows with a simplified block diagram a GSM network (GlobalSystem for Mobile communications).

The network subsystem NSS 100 of the GSM system comprises a mobileservices switching center MSC 101 connected to other networks throughthe interface of the NSS, such as a public-switched telephone networkPSTN, an integrated services digital network ISDN, public land mobilenetworks PLMN, packet-switched public data networks PSPDN, andcircuit-switched public data networks CSPDN. A base station subsystemBSS 102 is located between A and air interfaces comprising base stationcontrollers BSC 103, each controlling the base transceiver stations BTS104 connected to them. The base stations, on the other hand, are inradio communication with mobile stations MS 105 across the airinterface.

The GSM network has a digital radio path, i.e. bits are transferredthrough the air interface. The GSM system uses coding to convert speechinto bits and decoding to reconstruct speech back into its originalform. A transcoder TC (not shown in the figure) located in the BSSencodes the downlink transmissions, and a mobile station encodes theuplink transmissions. By using the coding system, speech coding requiresonly 13 kbit/s instead of the 64 kbit/s used in other networks, e.g.PSTN.

In order to establish a call, a mobile station MS must have a connectionthrough the air and the base station system. This connection may beeither a signaling type of connection or a traffic (speech, data) typeof connection. Call control functions are handled by the NSS part of theGSM network. Via the base station system, the mobile switching centerprovides the connection between the mobile station and the externalnetworks.

FIG. 1 b shows some of the messages, which are generally used at callestablishment between a calling and a called party.

In the following the call establishment of a mobile originated call isconsidered. When a calling party MS wishes to request a service, theuser first dials the number and lifts the handset of the phone, orpushes a button when a mobile phone is in question. AREQUEST-FOR-SERVICE signal 100 is sent on a random access channel RACHto the network, indicating that the calling party requires a speechchannel. For the sake of simplicity, signaling is performed between thecalling party and a mobile switching center MSC. In fact, a number ofsignaling message exchanges are required among the mobile station, theserving base station BTS, and the serving base controller station BSCbefore signaling reaches the serving mobile switching center. Parameterssuch as the power level and the channel number are determined. Mobileswitching center/base controller station responses with a free channelnumber and a REQUEST-ADDRESS message 101 are sent from the mobileswitching center to the mobile station. The mobile station is designateda dedicated channel. The message 101 is an inquiry about the number ofthe called party. The mobile station responds by sending aPROVIDE-ADDRESS message 102, including the number in question, to themobile switching center. Information is processed in the mobileswitching center 103. The processing includes routing to thedestination, initialization of billing, HLR (Home Location Register) andVLR (Visitor Location Register) verifications, allocation of a speechchannel, etc.

It is assumed that the destination of the call, the called party, is inthis particular example an extension number. In this case, anALERT-CALLED-PARTY message 104 is sent from the mobile switching centerto the switchboard of the called party. The switchboard checks whetherthe called party, the extension number, is ready to receive the incomingcall. This happens so that an ALERT-CALLED-PARTY message 104, containinga call line indication CLI, is sent further to the extension number ofthe called party. This message activates a ringing tone in the equipmentof the called party. If the called party is already engaged incommunication, at step 105, notification is given with a busy tone 106.First, the switchboard informs the calling subscriber of this by sendinga SWITCHBOARD-ANSWER message 107 through the signaling channel, and atraffic channel is activated for speech at the mobile switching center.Then a switchboard operator and the calling party discuss the matter. Ifthe calling party decides to wait for the service, the switchboardoperator switches on a queue tone or a piece of music.

Generally speaking, the waiting time varies for different services, butfrom the subscriber's point of view, the waiting usually seems to be toolong. Service providers have solved this problem in various ways.Information can be given regularly to the calling party with a recordedvoice saying that the company has not yet been able to complete thecall. More often a queue tone or alternatively a piece of music isplayed on the line to indicate that the calling party is on queue forthe service.

From time to time the switchboard tries to contact the called party byrecalling, steps 109-112. Finally, when the called party answers bylifting the handset of her/his telephone, an OK message 113 is sent fromthe telephone equipment to the switchboard. The call connection isestablished between the calling and the called party, and theconversation can begin 114. The conversation can be terminated at anymoment when either of the two subscribers hangs up 115.

Depending on the service provider, a busy tone, a queue tone, or a pieceof music is sent to the calling party when the destination is found tobe already busy. It is especially important to note that the queue toneor piece of music is sent through the air to the mobile station in thesame manner as speech. That is, the piece of music is sent on a TCHchannel (Traffic CHannel). This is, however, wasting a lot of spectrum.It is a known problem that the frequency range is limited. Therefore, itis not economical to use the frequencies only for sending either a queuetone or a piece of music on a speech channel. The limited scope of thefrequencies and the continually increasing need to share out frequenciesamong network subscribers requires that the frequencies be used in amore efficient and economic way.

Another problem is the poor quality of music when it is sent through aradio path. One important reason for the poor sound quality is that thepiece of music is compressed and coded into bits in the same manner asnormal speech; originally compressing and coding was optimized forspeech.

In particular, all kinds of conversions degenerate the tone quality.When the subscriber listens to a piece of music of poor quality, theimpression may be the opposite to that which the service providerdesires. Still another problem is that the subscriber may notnecessarily want to listen to that certain piece of music but can't inany way act to change the situation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the invention is to eliminate the drawbacks describedabove and to bring about a method providing a wait-time service of highquality and allowing the efficient avoidance of the unnecessary usage oftraffic channels on the air interface in the telecommunications network.

This objective is achieved with the solution defined in the independentclaims.

When a first party requests a service from a service provider in atelecommunications network, a connection to a second party, for example,the first party, often has to wait for the requested service. Thesituation is indicated by a queue tone, a busy tone, a piece of music,or in some other way, depending on the service provider and the terminalused.

The objective is to offer a new wait-time service which can be startedat the terminal of the subscriber when the requested connection is notavailable immediately. The wait-time service can be activated by amessage sent either from a serving exchange or the user of the terminal.The type of service may be the provision of audio, video, textual, orstill-image information, for example, and it is predefined in theterminal by the end user. A traffic channel is not opened through theair interface during the wait-time service.

When the wait-time service is activated at the terminal the servingexchange removes the connection control from the first serving exchangeto the second serving exchange,where the predefined status of the secondparty is monitored. The first exchange may sometimes be the same as thesecond exchange.

When the actual requested service connection can be established inresponse to the said monitoring, the wait-time service is interrupted byan alert signal when the priority is higher than the priority of thewait-time service.

It is possible to restart the interrupted wait-time service, if desired,when the actual requested service has been released.

Downlink frequencies are used more economically at the air interface,because the traffic channel is not opened for the wait-time but onlywhen the actual service can be offered to the end user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described more closely with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 a shows the structure of a known mobile network system,

FIG. 1 b is a signaling chart illustrating a known call establishmentbetween a calling and a called party in a telecommunications network,

FIGS. 2-5 are signaling charts illustrating the call messagetransmission between different components in the network, and

FIG. 6 illustrates a system for executing a wait-time service in aterminal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following, the present invention is illustrated with fourexamples. The first and third examples relate to a voice call connectionand the second and fourth examples to a data call connection in atelecommunications network.

The present invention can be applied to any mobile communication systemas well as any kind of telecommunications network. The invention will bedescribed below in more detail, mostly by using the GSM (Global Systemfor Mobile Communications) system as an example.

In the following, the first implementation of the wait-time service in atelecommunications network is described with reference to FIG. 2.

As an example, a voice call establishment is considered. A mobilesubscriber wants to make a call to a subscriber, who in this particularexample is a fixed telephone subscriber.

Steps 200-206 in FIG. 2 correspond to steps 100-106 in FIG. 1. Theservice provider, which corresponds to the switchboard in FIG. 1, savesa call line identification in the memory and sends a WAIT-TIME-STARTSmessage via the serving mobile switching center to the mobile station,steps 207 and 208. In response to that message, the mobile switchingcenter cancels the speech channel allocation made during the processing(at step 203). At the same time the call control 210 is transferred fromthe mobile switching center to the service provider.

The WAIT-TIME-STARTS message is sent to the mobile station through thesignaling channel. It is worth noting that no speech channel has yetbeen opened. The WAIT-TIME-STARTS message automatically activates at themobile station (step 209) a predefined wait-time service; such as apiece of music, which was stored earlier in the mobile equipment by theend user. A codec in the mobile equipment generates the music from a setof parameters, which can either be stored in the mobile equipment orsent from the network.

From now on, the service provider is in charge of the callestablishment. Its first task is to find out when the called party, i.e.the extension number is free to receive the incoming call (steps211-214). Once the called party is ready to receive the call, an OKmessage 215 is sent from the equipment of the called party to theservice provider. Due to the fact that the call control is at theservice provider, the call is now established in the reverse direction,i.e. from the called party to the calling party. The call establishmentis started as a normal voice call, but now in the opposite direction tothe original call establishment. An ESTABLISH-A-REVERSE-CHARGE-CALLmessage 216 is sent from the service provider to the mobile switchingcenter. A reverse charge call facility allows the called party, here theoriginal calling party, to be charged for the actual communication. Thesent message contains the telephone number of the original callingparty, which was saved by the service provider at the latest at the sametime when the call control was transferred from the mobile switchingcenter. The location of the mobile station (the original calling party)is paged, i.e. an inquiry is made as to where the mobile stationconcerned is at the moment. When the location is made known, a ringingtone ALERT-PARTY 217 is sent to the mobile station. If either the calledparty, i.e. the original calling party, or the network is busy, theservice provider tries to establish the call repeatedly according tospecific rules, e.g. according to 1) the number of calls and 2) thelength of intervals between the calls.

As the priority of the ringing tone is higher than the priority of thewait-time service, the piece of music is interrupted, at step 218, andthe mobile equipment sounds an alarm. When the mobile station answers, aspeech path is opened, and the conversation 219 can begin. Terminationof the call can be carried out in the customary way, i.e., the call canbe released by either of the end users (step 220).

After release of the connection, the following text appears on thedisplay of the mobile equipment: “Do you wish to continue theinterrupted activity?” The user of the mobile equipment has twoalternative responses: either “ok” or “delete”. Thus the user has anopportunity to return to the activity that was interrupted, perhaps atan interesting moment.

The above-described solution has many advantages. First of all, the useof frequencies in the air interface is economized Secondly, the qualityof music is satisfactory. Thirdly, the subscriber is further satisfiedbecause the piece of music has been chosen by herself/himself. Insteadof music, the activity recorded in advance can be speech, e.g.aphorism(s), poem(s) or a short story. An activity can be accepted ordeleted according to the subscriber's wish.

The second example relates to a data call connection in a GSM network.

FIG. 3 illustrates a data call connection. In principle the signalingcorresponds to the signaling in the previous example, but the names ofthe signals differ from one another.

A calling party, referred to here as “user equipment”, requests aservice, such as a database search or a search in the World Wide Web. ACALL-ESTABLISH.INV message 300, including the destination address, issent via an exchange and a service provider (step 302) to the finaldestination, here an extension number (step 304). When the message 300sent by the user equipment is received by the exchange, the exchangesends the user equipment an acknowledgment of this, CALL-PROCESS.INVmessage 301. The exchange processes the message 300 received andforwards it in the form of CALL-ESTABLISH.INV message 302 to the serviceprovider, which sends the exchange an acknowledgement of receipt in theform of CALL-PROCEEDING message 303.

The extension number is already engaged with another connection, i.e.the called party can not be reached at the moment (step 305). Inresponse to this message, a busy signal 306 is sent to the serviceprovider. This signal activates the service provider to save the numberof the called party and to send a WAIT-TIME-STARTS.INV message via theexchange to the user equipment, steps 307 and 308. A speech channel isnot opened. Instead, the channel allocation message is canceled at theexchange, and the call control is transferred 309 from the exchange tothe service provider. When the message 308 has been received, await-time activity is automatically activated at the user's equipment(step 310).

In data connections the wait-time activity can also be visual or evenaudiovisual. Making good use of wafting time, the user may have oneactivity or a plurality of various kinds of activities saved in the userequipment. Depending on the type of user equipment, these activitiescould be: quizzes, games, aphorisms, pictures, comics, etc.

The service provider monitors the state of the extension number of thecalled party (steps 311-314). Immediately after an OK message, at step315, is received, a CALL-ESTABLISH.INV message 316 is sent to theexchange. This message corresponds to theESTABLISH-A-REVERSE-CHARGE-CALL message in the previous example, i.e.the original calling party is to be charged.

The exchange then sends a CALL-ESTABLISH.RR message 317 to the userequipment. The activity in the user equipment is immediately interrupted(step 318), and the data connection 319 can be established between theuser equipment and the called party. Release can be initiated by eitherof the two parties (step 320).

If the activity was a game that was interrupted at a very excitingmoment, the user can activate the game again after the actual connectionbecause the status of the game is automatically saved when the game isstopped by an alert message. Of course, the user always has the optionof accepting or rejecting the activity.

If the activity is an aphorism, a poem, or a picture, this stays on thedisplay until the user requests the next display or another activity.

Common to each of the wait-time services above is that

1) the user has stored the activity in the mobile equipment beforehand,

2) the activity is started, saved, and controlled by the mobileequipment itself, that is, the user can decide at which volume the musicis to be played, as well as which pieces are to be played and in whichorder, etc.,

3) the activity starts when the WAIT-TIME-STARTS message is received bythe user equipment from the exchange,

4) the activity is ended when an ALERT message is received by the userequipment from the exchange, and

5) the interrupted activity can be resumed after the actual requestedservice has ended, if the user so desires.

An advantageous way to activate a wait-time activity in the mobileequipment is to use a supplementary service CCBS (Completion of Calls toBusy Subscriber) facility, whereby the calling party asks the network tomonitor when the called party is free. The call is completedautomatically by the network without the need to redial the callednumber when the called line becomes free. The availability of thissupplementary service depends on the network operator and the existingexchanges.

FIG. 4 relates to a voice call connection and FIG. 5 to a data callconnection in a telecommunications network.

In FIG. 4 the mobile subscriber sends a SET-UP message 400 to the mobileswitching center. In response to the received message, the mobileswitching center sends a INITIAL-ADDRESS MESSAGE 401 to the calledsubscriber DLE(B), which can be either a mobile subscriber or a fixedphone subscriber. If the called subscriber is busy 402, a RELEASE(busy,CCBS possible) message 403 is sent from the called subscriber's terminalto the mobile switching center indicating that the CCBS facility ispossible. The mobile switching center informs the mobile station of thesituation by sending a CCBS-POSSIBLE message 404 to the mobile station.If the mobile subscriber decides to wait for the service, a CCBS-REQUESTmessage 405 is sent from the mobile station, forwarded via the mobileswitching center to the HLR 407, and then further to the calledsubscriber 408.

When the mobile station sends a CCBS-Request message, the wait-timeactivity 406 starts automatically at the mobile station, and apredefined wait-time service begins. In response, a CCBS-REQUEST-ACK issent from the called subscriber to the calling subscriber via the HLRand the mobile switching center, steps 409-411. When the state of thecalled subscriber changes from busy to idle, at step 412, aREMOTE-USER-FREE message 413-414 is sent via the HLR to the mobileswitching center, whereupon a CCBS-CALL-INFO is sent to the mobilestation 415. A CCBS-INFO-ACK message 416 informs the mobile switchingcenter that the mobile station prefers to use a CCBS call, and for thatreason the network may allocate a traffic channel accordingly. Inresponse, the mobile switching center sends a CCBS-RECALL message 417 tothe mobile station, and the mobile station alerts the user with an alarmtone. The wait-time activity is interrupted (step 418). When the userpicks up the handset of the phone, a CCBS-SET-UP message 419, thecontent of which being the same as message 400, is sent from the mobilestation to the mobile switching center. Thereafter, the messages areused to complete the connection between the calling and the calledsubscriber according to the figure in steps 420-425. These last messagesare known, and they are not essential in view of the actual invention.

The CCBS service is known as such, and interested readers can get a moredetailed description of the service, for example, from pages 9-25 inETSI specifications TS 101 283 V7.0.0 (1999-08). The purpose of givingthis example is to demonstrate that the invention can be implemented indifferent ways. The aim of the invention is that a certain kind ofmessage activates the wait-time service at the terminal equipment of thecalling subscriber. It is only when the called subscriber is free thatthe network allocates a speech path through the air interface.

FIG. 5 illustrates the method of wait-time activity when the CCBSfacility is used in a data call connection. The messages 500-524 used inthis example correspond to the messages used in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

The implementation and embodiments of the present invention have beenexplained above with various examples. However, it is understood thatthe invention is not restricted to the details of the embodiments aboveand that numerous changes and modifications can be made by those skilledin the art without departing from the characteristic features of theinvention. For example, video calls are also possible instead of voiceor data calls. Some functions can be in a different order. The signalingmessages mentioned here are just examples, and there can be many kindsof signaling messages. Further, the invention is not technology-bound.Therefore, it can be used with any transmission technology where the airinterface is used for transmissions. It most likely takes place withthird generation 3G user equipment based on the Universal MobileTelecommunications System UMTS currently being developed in Europe. Thetechnology used in a UMTS radio part is WCDMA (Wideband Code DivisionMultiple Access). However, implementation of the invention can also becarried out in networks using ATM, TCP/IP, or some other technology.

The functionality of the wait-time service can be implemented in theterminal equipment and/or in a module inserted into the terminalequipment, e.g. a SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module).

Different statuses according to the state of the called party or serviceare possible:

1) free; the establishment of a connection can be completed,

2) busy; the establishment of a connection cannot be completed at themoment,

3) downloading; pages are being loaded e.g. from the Internet, but fromthe user's viewpoint “nothing is happening”,

4) no connection; the establishment of a connection has failed. It isclear that there is no need to use the wait-time service in alternatives1 and 4. However, in alternatives 2 and 3 wait-time may sometimes lastquite long. At least one wait-time service is integrated into the aterminal of the calling party. Therefore, the wait-time service can bestarted automatically at the said terminal after a predetermined time,which can be 10 seconds, for example. Naturally, the user can start thewait-time service at the terminal or stop it at any time. When thetransmission from the called party is completed, the wait-time serviceis interrupted by an alert signal from the terminal.

FIG. 6 illustrates a system for executing a specific wait-time servicein the terminal 600 of the calling party. Software relating to at leastone wait-time service is stored in storage 602. Processor 601 is adaptedto execute the wait-time service either in response to a certain messagefrom the network or to start activation from the user's terminal. Themessage from the network includes information about the state of thecalled party, which can be one of the above mentioned 1-4 alternatives,for example. Depending on the type of wait-time service, it can bedisplayed on the display 603 and/or heard from the loudspeaker 604 ofthe terminal.

The wait-time service is described above in terms of connections throughthe radio path because that has two important advantages: 1) frequenciesare used in a more efficient and economic way, and 2) there is no needto compress, encode, or decode the wait-time data. However, it isobvious that the wait-time service can also be used for fixedconnections.

The wait-time service can also be activated and executed when dataconnection has been established between the calling and the calledparty, especially when the data transmission from the called party (e.g.downloading from the World Wide Web) requires a long wait for the use.

1. A method for providing a wait-time service in a communicationsnetwork comprising a plurality of user terminals, the method comprising:requesting communication between a first, calling party and a second,called party; checking the status of the second party; informing thefirst party about the status of the second party; in response to thestatus of the second party being one of predefined statuses, executing await-time, service stored in the terminal of the first party until apredefined event is detected; transferring the connection control from afirst service exchange to a second service exchange; monitoring thestatus of the second party at said second exchange; and establishing aconnection between the second party and the first party, when saidmonitoring indicates that the second party has become available.
 2. Amethod as defined in claim 1, wherein the predefined event is thereception of an alert message from the network.
 3. A method as definedin claim 1, wherein the predefined event is deactivation of thewait-time service by the first party.
 4. A method as defined in claim 1,wherein the predefined event is confirmation of a completed datatransmission.
 5. A method as defined in claim 1, said method furthercomprises: executing the wait-time service at the terminal of the firstparty without using a traffic channel for transferring service data. 6.A method as defined in claim 4, further comprising: executing thewait-time service at the terminal of the first party as the terminalsimultaneously receives data which the terminal fails to use for saidservice.
 7. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the second party canbe any kind of telephone.
 8. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein thesecond party downloads data into the terminal of the first party.
 9. Amethod as defined in claim 5, wherein the connection to be establishedis a reverse charged connection.
 10. A method as defined in claim 1,wherein a set of parameters needed for executing the wait-time serviceis sent to the first party with information about the status of thesecond party.
 11. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein a set ofparameters needed for executing the wait-time service is stored in theterminal of the first party.
 12. A method as defined in claim 1, whereina set of parameters needed for executing the wait-time service is storedin a module inserted into the terminal of the first party.
 13. A methodas defined in claim 5, wherein the first serving exchange is the same asthe second serving exchange.
 14. A method as defined in claim 1, whereinthe predefined status is “busy”.
 15. A method as defined in claim 1,wherein the predefined status indicates that data transmission from thesecond party is in progress.
 16. A method as defined in claim 5, whereinwhen the connection becomes available the wait-time service isinterrupted by an alert message.
 17. A method as defined in claim 15,wherein when the transmission is completed the wait-time service isinterrupted by an alert message.
 18. A method as defined in claim 16,further comprising restarting the interrupted wait-time service when theconnection between the first and the second party has been released. 19.A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the wait-time service includesprovision of audio information.
 20. A method as defined in claim 1,wherein the wait-time service includes provision of video information.21. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the wait-time serviceincludes provision of textual information.
 22. A method as defined inclaim 1, wherein the wait-time service includes provision of still-imageinformation.
 23. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the wait-timeservice is controlled at the terminal of the first terminal.
 24. Amethod as defined in claim 1, wherein the wait-time service is definedfor each terminal.
 25. A communications system, comprising: a pluralityof user terminals configured to communicate with each other through anetwork; a connection analyser functionality in the network configuredto inform a firsts calling terminal about the status of a second; calledterminal; a wait-time service integrated into at least said firstterminal configured to provide said service at said terminal in responseto a predefined event; a monitoring unit configured to monitor thestatus of the second called terminal; and an establishing unitconfigured to establish a connection between the second called terminaland the first calling terminal, when said monitoring unit indicates thatthe second called terminal has become available.
 26. A communicationsystem as defined in claim 25, wherein the predefined event is thereception of a message from the network, the said message including thestatus of the second party.
 27. A communication system as defined inclaim 25, wherein the predefined event is the activation of thewait-time service at the terminal of the first party.
 28. A terminal forthe communications system, the terminal comprising: a transmitterconfigured to transmit a request for the establishment of a connectionfrom said terminal to another terminal; receiver configured to receivestatus information indicating the status of another terminal; a storingunit configured to store a wait-time service; and a processor configuredto execute a wait-time service at the terminal in response to apredefined status of the second party, configured to monitor the statusof the second party at said second exchange, and configured to establisha connection between the second party and the first party, when saidmonitoring indicates that the second party has become available.
 29. Aterminal for the communication system as defined in claim 28, whereinthe predefined status is “busy”.
 30. The terminal for the communicationssystem as defined in claim 28, wherein the predefined status indicatesthat data transmission from the second party is in progress.
 31. Acommunications system, comprising: plurality of user terminals forcommunicating with each other through a network; connection analyserfunctionality in the network for informing a first calling terminalabout the status of a second called terminal; and wait-time servicemeans integrated into at least said first terminal for providing saidservice at said terminal in response to a predefined event; monitoringmeans for monitoring the status of the second called terminal; andestablishing means for establishing a connection between the secondcalled terminal and the first calling terminal, when said monitoringmeans indicates that the second called terminal has become available.32. A terminal for the communications system, the terminal comprising:transmitting means for transmitting a request for the establishment of aconnection from said terminal to another terminal; receiving means forreceiving status information indicating the status of another terminal;storing means for storing a wait-time service; and processor means forexecuting a wait-time service at the terminal in response to apredefined status of the second party, for monitoring the status of thesecond party at said second exchange, and for establishing a connectionbetween the second party and the first party, when said monitoringindicates that the second party has become available.